St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-09-10
HERO WORSHIP.
GENERAL BOULANGER AND THE
TOY DEALERS OF PARIS
Souvenirs of All Descriptions Made by
Thousands Small Boy Soldiers of
the Gay French Capital-An Incident of
the Great Fete Day-RebuiIding Operas.
Special G01Te$pOnIeuce.7


hero is Boulanger. A class of people
who thoroughly eniOy this are the to,
makers. Among their products now il
enormous demand are mlrlitDns or reeo
pipes, dedicated to General BOulanre
and bearing a medallion likeness Of hin
in a hundred different styles; Boulangel
brooches and B0UIanger scarf-pinS
gold or enamcl:" Boulangcr medals
portraits Of the cX-War minister, bon
bons and pipes in his honor, opcrs
glasses containing his picture, Boulanyc1
watch chains, sixteen popular songs SIT
ting forth the civil and military virtues
Of BOulanger, BOulangcr souvenirs Of
other kinds. One single firm sold 400,
goo scarfpins to the Paris hawkcrs in
forty-eight hours and completely inun-
dated the provinces with them besides
The celebration of the taking of the
ha>tille is popular holiday in France
which exhibits some curious features
In the morning the spectator on the
historic Place de la Concord sees the
Patriotic League arrive in procession
and halt at the statue of Strasburg.
They bring an enormous crown Of vel
low immortelIes trimmed with green and
black ribbons (the cOlOrs of the league,
Sirnitying hope and mOurningl, and the
motto "Q'tande menee.' In the middle of
colored cOckadc resting on black Grape
band tied in an "Alsatian knot" Nearly
all the patriots wear stars or medals or
ribbons. Drums beat and trumpets
sound whilst the Ntrrheurs Parisieus,
or paris Walkers gvmnastic club
in blue and white uniform and blue
peaked cap with tri-colored plume, join
the Patriotic League. In a short time
twelve clubs or associations are assem-
BLEED at the statue, including the gym
na>tic club "Patrotes de la Moselle,' the
"Orpheon Alsacien- Lorraine" the so
Ciete DIES Eoluntaires de 1S10-11,' the
"Socicte de Refrigeration" and several
beneficial and friendly societies each with
lis banner yelled with Grape. In silence,
and whilst all stand bareheadcd. Young
men climb up to the statue and take
away the faded offerings of last fete day,
replacing them with the tribute already
mentioned, As also another brought by
the Mo>ellc Patriots, made of black beads
relieved with silver. All these silent
demonstrators are Alsatans or Lorraines,
and their annual ceremony is a pious and
IL, 81 h1ir
guishabe love for the annexed provinces,
which they hope to win back
At the Hotel de Vile another most in
teresting spectacle presents itself-the re-
view of the bataiIlons SEIZURES or "school-
boy battalions.' The Frenchman is now
not only born a soldier but learns the pro-
fession of arms almost as soon as he gets
out of swaddling clothes. Here we find
youngsters from ten to twelve years old
parading. sword IN hand or with Shout
dered rifle, under the eyes of the civil and
military authorities. Infant drummerS
beat a salute, and comrades sound their
clarions while the army of the future
marches past the general, their little feet
markingSXcellent time. 1t is astonishing
and amusing to see the wee sergeants and
adjutantS make a halfturn as they come
under th@ general critical eye, and then
march backward, examining their troop,
and sharply order some man to keep in
line, all with the serious air of old cam
paigners. The open square where this
takes place is surrounded by an enthusl
astic crowd numbering many thousands.
All the chairs from the neighbOring
cafes and shops have been hired by
spectators anxious to see the sight; lad
ders reared against the walls here and
there threaten to give way under the
mass of human beings crowded on every
round; every balcony and window are
OccuDied, and the hOusetOpS are black
with people. Many fond mother is there
whose son is in the ranks of the regular
army or of the school boy battallOns, and
her heart beats quicker as she watches
the swell warriors executing with Won
derful precision the commands OF the
general The close of the review with
complimentary speech from the inspector
general is received with wild cheers
and Tres les 6dth2ioHs sco5nires.,' re-
neWed again and again as the people be-
gin to disperse. And it is easy ID see
that the small boy soldiers are the pride
of the Parisians and attract as much
attention as their grOwnup brothers who
are reviewed in the afternoon on the
race-course at Longchamps, in the Bots
de BOulogne.
This latter inspection of soldiers of
larger growth, witnessed by all Paris, so
to speak, calls for but slight mention
now The Boulangist agitators were ex-
pected to create an "incident' this year,
but nothing serious resulted from their
noise, for the government had taken due
a sufficient military force,
besides the 10000 men engaged in the re-
view, was present, as we'll as a large
number of gendarmes and police. Gen
eral Ferron minister of war, was
greeted with cries of TaCe BouIdnger"
and IA bas FerronW on his way to and
from the review, and NJ. Grevy, Presi-
dent of the republic, had the name of
the popular demi-god thrown at him sew
eral times. On the other hand, there
were not wanting gicas in their honor.
A few, but very few, denounced Ger
many, but Jules Ferry, the longwhis
l1ered German Politician was vigor
ously consigned to outer darkness. The
most interesting 'incident" occurred at
The review, where Rochefort and other
choice spirits were present in the parlia
nentary portion of the grand stand. AS
he crowd cried Vice Gregy."' the cdi